Fire Bird

Was she on the monitor showing AF dysrhythmia? If she had rapid AF and she was post-op for mitral valve prosthetics, maybe the valve had dysfunction sending her into rapid AF. i dont understand why this pt needed that small amt of fluid over such a short period of time. It's not really standard practice for treating AF. Was she given any other IV meds? Since she was symptomatic prior to the fluids, I doubt your administration of fluids had any acute effect on the illness.

In the ER, I could not do anything efficiently without each teammember including: CNAs, transporters, MRs, Room cleaners. Each person is vital to the team.

I had a 5 year old patient come by ambulance for a "cough" that had started the night before. Assessment and vital signs were normal. The patient did not cough once while in our ER. He was discharged pretty quickly. This is why insurance is so expensive in the U.S.

Same thing happened for me in the summer residency.. I waited FOREVER and finally got an acceptance letter. if you havn't been denied or waitlisted then theres a high probability that you got accepted.

I graduated in May and started a nurse residency program at a hospital in july, eventually leading to the ED. If you really want to start in the ED when you graduate, maybe try applying for residency programs in-state/out of state? or apply to local EDs? Some helpful hints: get medical work experience, medical volunteer experience, leadership experience, network at hospitals you are applying to.

I'd say get a cheaper littman. I used a cheap non-littman brand through nursing school. I couldn't really hear well with it, so learning breath sounds was a struggle until I got my littmann after i graduated.

So I thought the male nurses would find this this entertaining. I'm working as a young male nurse in a Pediatric ER. I have a three patient assignment: possible septic baby, CHI baby, and an 11yo nonaggressive psych patient who believes he is a mythical creature from a book he has read and is awaiting transfer to psych. I do my work ups on my babies, including IV's and meds for both, and multiple scans for the CHI. When I re-check my 11yo, the parents are giggling with the kid. "What has you guys laughing so hard?", I ask. Dad answers, "This is just the first time that _____ has seen a male nurse. See _____? I told you he was a male nurse. They need male nurses to help lift heavy things and heavy people. His job is important because there aren't many male nurses." I think men in nursing is a really misunderstood role.

I'm a 22yo male and i started working in a pediatric ER a few months ago as an RN. It's a lot of fun and takes a lot of knowledge and experience! We get all types of patients: level 1 traumas, patients who walk in and code while walking through the metal detectors, broken bones, severe asthmatics, and sometimes just a runny nose. On all types of patients the nurse has to react to the situation and follow protocols set in place. So if you are thinking that being in an RN role in the ER is comparable to LTC nursing, the two fields cannot parallel. Both areas of nursing require planning and skill set, but both are on a completely different spectrum when it comes to patient care.

My advice... stay where you are and get some experience! Especially if you like where you are working already.

Hey I'm in the same boat! I started in a Peds ER not too long ago, and the one thing i was nervous about was IVs. Well, I watched my preceptor put in a bunch of IVs. Then, I started doing the IVs for all our teens (my first one was on a pregnant pt). I just stuck my first febrile neonate yesterday and was 7/10 on IVs yesterday. It really takes watching people do it then doing it yourself. When I'm assessing for a good vein, I apply the tourniquet, rub the area with an alcohol swab(superficial vasodilation), and lower the extremity to increase blood pooling in the vein if I need to. When I go to stick, I only focus on the stick. I don't talk to the pt or the family or think about what I have to do in the other room. Only focus on putting that needle into that "tunnel" aka vein. When you get flash, pause. Advance the catheter slowly, withdraw the needle, apply the t-connector and flush/draw. No need to practice on your friends, get all the practice in at work. And yes, I did sweat alot the first 20-30 times I tried sticking. My first day sticking I was 1 for 5 on successful attempts. But that 1 that I got held for the next few days they were in the hospital once the pt was admitted. Everyone is going to say "you wont be able to get my vein because blah blah said my vein does blah blah blah." Don't listen to that, just get that little plastic catheter in their vein. Hope that helps a little!

Call lights don't make me run into rooms anymore because I have never had someone hit the call light for an emergency... and I work in an ER.. I carry a pocket book to write down times that my pumps are gonna go off so that I can stop them before they beep. But i know some of you guys that work on the floor can have 4-6 patients on pumps sometimes and that must be hard to remember when the pumps going to go off!

The quote "nurses eat their young" was not true at all for me after i graduated. The nurses I work with now are all very intelligent and teach the new nurses/student nurses at a pace that they can handle. Nursing is a great field to be in!

yay congrats hang in there

im pretty sure its a standard rate of pay for all nurse residents

depends on the area. i was a cna before becoming a nurse and i got to learn alot and got paid pretty decent. i dont think cnas should get paid close to what nurses get paid just because of the different level of critical thinking that is involved in the nurse role. i know that my job would be alot harder without cna's though and i am grateful to have them by my side.